New prop signed and no comments made. Squad not updated.No official news other than rumours about Jordie Hedges and Watson Boas. Carl Hall continues with his Scarlet Pimpernel impersonation. Interest really is going down the pan and supporters appear to be no longer interested. The club really is on a downward spiral.

The awful structure to our league doesn't help keep people interested. Super League and the Championship are well underway and League One is left behind. It still feels as though we're in the middle of the off-season!

The performance against Whtehaven has probably further sucked away fans' enthusiasm.

I think forums like this are generally in decline too as people prefer to use Facebook groups. Wanderer, Gary, was a good contributor to the forum and I miss him being around.

i think DM is absolutely correct,here we are still 2 weeks away from our first game and SL and Championship are already 5 games in,what exactly have we to talk about.Structure is all wrong.

One good thing,about this forum, when we get some rugby to watch, is you can write what you think without the thought police descending like sharks on Facebook.
People's priorities change with age, mine have, Gary's have, Steve and Geoff Roebuck's have...and so many others have.
Once you get used to not getting your fix of the Dons then you realise it is pretty unimportant on the list of priorities....
They have lost a thousand supporters for one reason and another....net.
And they are trundling along like so many clubs talking the talk but going nowhere...
Yes they came close last season but have to do it all over again...
They have played 4 games...I haven't been to any...why?
Not competitive league games...pretty meaningless....

Interesting stuff as always from SO.

I'm 63. I see quite a lot of people around my age at games. I fully get the concept that once you stop going, you don't miss it but is the main reason people 'don't miss it' because we've not been successful, so there's not much to miss?

To open up the discussion further and to create some interest before the season starts, can people say why they stopped going and whether they could see themselves coming back at some point in the future. If you're still going to games, what is your reason for continuing to attend?

I still go to matches because I enjoy the social aspect. I see friends that I wouldn't otherwise see. I enjoy watching rugby. I'm not overly driven by the need to win, although it does make the experience a better one when we do! I would love to see the Dons be competitive at the top of the Championship at some point before my days are up but I fear the best I can hope for is to be a bottom half Championship side that will be happy to avoid relegation.

My reasons...

Can't always attend since 2019, doing other stuff.

5 year plan was clearly not funded or couldn't be funded because of poor crowd numbers.

Pitch sharing on grass works against us in many ways.

Coach lives in an ivory tower.

Been relegated since 2015 in a league with few local derbies.

Away games too far generally.

Association with a failing football club.

There may be others....

News imminent on the former.

Looking at our squad I cant see anything other than a mid table side.
The main impact players we had are now at the Seagulls and I have not seen anything from Robinson in the friendlies or cup to warrant a change of this opinion.

Boas out for most of the season according to form and Hedges stood on the sidelines at Keighley last week now on their match day staff apparently , what the hell is going on .
As usual the clubs silence is deafening.

Season Ticket price confirmed as £60 today. The cost would have dropped to £50 had 501 tickets been sold.

There's the proof. Interest really has gone down.Still paid the extra £30 though. Maybe if the club got it's act together and connected with supporters it may have been different.

Create the difference. It’s your Club.

How do we create the difference?

Not being able to sell 500 season tickets at £60 speaks volumes. Do we live in hope that if we get promoted all the 'lost supporters' will come back? Or is there simply no appetite for rugby league in Doncaster?

The club don't help themselves because many fans feel cut off due to poor communications. Watson Boas, Jordie Hedges, Ben Cockayne to name but three instances where fans want to know what's happening.

Fans need to feel connected to their club. Without that connection, loyalty erodes. It can become 'them' and 'us' rather than everyone pulling together.

It saddens me that a town the size of Doncaster hasn't got a successful rugby club. Club Doncaster also needs to take a look at itself as the Five Year Plan to get to Super League flopped and we're still stuck in the bottom division. Something isn't working.

You can't create a difference when there is total apathy among supporters because of the way those at the top of Club Doncaster are running things.The total mess Club Doncaster has made that has left the Rovers where they are is bound to rub off on those who are lovers of sport in the town and are supporters of the Dons who make the obvious connection. Until there is a total change of approach by Club Doncaster that shows commitment to providing success that apathy will always remain.

I watched the North Wales versus Seagulls game at the weekend and was impressed by the way North Wales came back into the game in the last quarter and never gave up the game. They threw the ball around to the edges rather than take on the Seagulls down the middle, making for an entertaining match.
They look far better than the side we played last year which could cause us problems come play off places.

I noticed that over the last two weekends Keighley have been beaten by both Oldham and Swinton.

When I look through the league one squads I thought Keighley had a very strong squad again this season and would be there or thereabouts come the play offs, weather they have used these games to play fringe squad players I don't know but they were well beaten by Swinton which doesn't bode well for us.

Looking at our squad I honestly feel we are in for a long hard season and nothing less than a convincing Dons win against The Midlands will convince me otherwise.
They will give us a fair idea where we are , as I think they will be a tough nut to crack this year.

They have signed a few more quality players and have four or five ex Dons in the side who will be out to prove a point.

NWC are the best team in the division. Keighley's results so far have surprised me having lost to Hunslet, Oldham and Swinton, particularly with Oldham losing to Lock Lane but I'd expect them to improve.

Swinton are certainly better than Oldham appear to be at this stage.

For me it is NWC top then a free for all between us, Keighley, Oldham, Swinton, Hunslet and Rochdale

I agree Jemmo , we are an average looking side unless we have a significant amount of personnel coming in on loan.

Poor recruitment and player retention will see walk up spectators plummet this season , I would rather pay £150/£200 for a season ticket and watch a competitive side.

See separate thread re Jordie.

I actually think our player recruitment has been pretty good the last few years, generally speaking. It's player retention, particularly at the end of last season, which has been the worry.

An obvious exception is never recruiting an actual fullback, which seems odd